design

Posted by Chuckmonster on 6 Jan 2017We've recently received a tip that MGM Resorts International have begun removing the cloth canopies above the table games inside of Bellagio's casino.
Not only have the canopy drapes been removed, they've removed the drape supports...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 7 Jun 2016Just a note to folks tuned into RSS, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds that a new feature review has been posted - my review of the brand new Julius Tower at Caesars Palace.
Check it out...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 16 May 2016
Yesterday, construction walls surrounding the future Wynn Poker Room came down so workers could patch the marble tiles connecting the thoroughfare to the new barriers and host stand. Thankfully for us poker/design/Wynn nerds, long...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 7 Mar 2016Lots of changes have been taking place at The Cosmopolitan in the year or so since Blackstone purchased the property from Deutsche Bank. Visionary CEO John Unwin left the company and was replaced by...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 13 Jan 2016
Wynn Las Vegas has drained the lake outside of the Wynn Esplanade and have installed a massive array of movable jets and lights in the center of the small lake.
The fountain show is located on...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 4 Jan 2016The opening of Wynn Macau in 2007 ushered in a new era in intimate casino design - the chambered casino. The Steve touted the chambered casino as an achievement in casino design that could turn...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 2 Nov 2015A few months ago, Jinx73 started a discussion on The Board about The D upgrading bathrooms in their standard rooms. As anyone who has stayed at The D during its transition away from the Fitzgeralds...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 5 Oct 2015The Wall Street Journal visited the hotel room test lab at the headquarters of Marriott Hotels to learn how they design their hotels.
The primary tool Marriott uses to design their hotel rooms is data. ...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 2 Sep 2015A month ago we posted about the current state of Aria's casino floor, noting that stuff was being boarded up, closed off, carted away and reconfigured.
One piece of the puzzle has been solved.
The area normally...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 18 Aug 2015ālon, the forthcoming resort from former Wynn Resorts executive Andrew Pascal and Crown Resorts Chairman James Packer, have unveiled their logo.
The logo type is modern, sleek, chiseled, well-balanced and spacious in a deep bronze. A...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 5 Aug 2015The casino disruption at Aria we told you about? Well, it has gone massive.
This is the overflow poker area between what was the Deuce and the Poker Room and the Roasted Bean.
Could Aria be...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 4 Aug 2015While Steve Wynn may get all the accolades, but it is interior designer Roger Thomas whose vision turns these raw architectural ideas into luxurious, comfortable and emotionally evocative spaces that are truly - in the...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 29 Jul 2015So where were we? SLS, right.
As mentioned, this was my first visit to SLS since it opened. I won't bore you with the back story, here's the Story Tower review and some other...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 10 Apr 2015I have seen a cache of photos documenting the room renovations coming to Mandalay Bay later this year. These renovations will replace the number room renovations from the mid/late-aughts that replaced Mandalay Bay's original room...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 3 Apr 2015The construction walls just came off of the forthcoming Julian Serrano restaurant Lago at Bellagio and VT's debonair MikeE was on the scene and ready to snapchat.
Check it out:
There is nothing subtle about this giant...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 24 Mar 2015Here's a special treat - photos of the brand new VIP junket rooms at Wynn Macau, sent over to us by the man responsible for the design - Wynn Vice President of Design and Development...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 11 Feb 2015Unlike a few of the recent owners of the former International Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas Hilton and LVH, the operators of the rebranded Westgate Las Vegas aren't messing around. David Siegel and Westgate...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 24 Nov 2014
Resorts World Las Vegas is slowly creeping towards formally rebooting as they gather up funding via the U.S. Government EB-5 program which exchanges immigration visas for investment cash. There are rumblings that a big announcement...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 18 Nov 2014The material was three G's and an E flat. Played loud and played fast. The first and greatest riff of all time.
Material. The cellular level of an idea from which springs life, art, language or...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 23 May 2014Design firm Bukhari Design Studio, collaborators with Wynn Resorts on multiple projects in the U.S. and Macau, have posted a curious rendering in their portfolio gallery that contains a clue that this may very well...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 11 Feb 2014The March 2014 issue of Architectural Digest features a stunning eight page pictorial of Steve Wynn's new apartment in New York City.
The apartment, designed by Wynn Resorts VP of Design Roger Thomas, is festooned with...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 3 Feb 2014SLS Las Vegas unleashed a new rendering of their property, primarily showing off their proposed marquee.
Interesting. Kinetic sculpture on the north side with a giant LED screen facing south. Obviously, someone did the...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 28 Jan 2014Calling all casino design nerds, let us rejoice and behold the new casino floor at Mirage!
Wow!
Like rivers of chocolate with pink veins carrying the energy of life. Aperiodic, tangly, luxurious... if Flamingo had extended...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 24 Jan 2014Just in time for Chinese New Year, the lotus has returned to the fountain outside of Wynn's High Limit slots parlor, but not after going to the lacquer factory for a fresh coat of fire.
I...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 22 Jan 2014SLS has added EB5-Noodles to their list of forthcoming restaurants. EB5-Noodles is described as "authentic Chinese cuisine" so you can cancel your hopes for another China Poblano-style mash up from SBE Culinary Director Jose...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 14 Nov 2013We're super excited share with you this incredible guest post by VT reader JerryDice (@jerrydice on the Twitter) continuing the discussion about the The Shops at Tropicana. Take it away Jerry! - Ed
VT's reveal...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 24 May 2013
Way back in June 2008, when I took the above photo, the first cracks in the economic meltdown were starting to appear. Projects already in progress - Encore, City Center, Cosmopolitan, Echelon, and Fontainebleau...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 16 May 2013The Venetian recently completed their renovation of the casino floor and it looks really pretty. The installation of new casino carpeting, new furnishings, select pieces of new decor and way finding has dramatically...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 31 Mar 2013After a six long hard years of economic crisis casting cannonballs at the bows of the highest and mightiest of casino corporations, it appears that the storm is indeed over, blue skies have returned and...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 4 Mar 2013
A picture postcard that says, simply, Welcome to Beautiful Resorts World Las Vegas in red and brown over a group of angularly frosted, chocolate hued hotel towers, the base of which is surrounded by a...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 22 Jan 2013Ok, not really, but based on a small clip from this advertisement for the Lily bar thingy, one might think that Bellagio is a "Light Group Property".
Branding standards bwahahaha!
Back when I was in the trenches...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 6 Sep 2012Between doing our Atlantic City Tripping and working on upgrading the technical underpinnings of this award winning website and a handful of other ones which bear somewhat similar names, I've been remiss in posting various...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 19 Jun 2012
Legendary designer Roger Thomas, the man responsible for nearly everything you love about Wynn & Encore and the man whose lasting vision can still be seen throughout Bellagio, Mirage, Treasure Island and Golden Nugget has...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 16 Dec 2011Caesars Entertainment invited the local newspaper folks to come tour the soon-to-open Octavius Tower.
The Octavius Tower, announced during the height of the '00s building boom, was scheduled to open in 2009. After...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 30 Nov 2011Here's a special treat. Fellow Vegas Gangster Dr. Dave has posted the first part of an amazing interview with legendary casino architect Paul Steelman. As some of you may know, Steelman is one...

Posted by Blackjacker1979 on 19 Oct 2011Got an extra million lying around after hedging your hedge fund bets or cashing in a few $25,000 chips? Needless Markup Neiman Marcus's annual Christmas extravaganza has a steal for you.
That's right folks, for a...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 21 Apr 2011
Ever wondered what a Veer Penthouse would look like if you had a shipping container full of $100 bills to blow hiring a designer to do it up? Wonder no more...
Thanks to Contemporist, a...

Posted by JohnH on 20 Apr 2011
A little over a year ago, we turned your attention to the masterful artistry of Jeffrey Schneider. Thanks to Mr. Schneider and his decision to post all of his Wynn Design and Development renderings onto...

Posted by MikeE on 27 Dec 2010Design has always been a hot topic of discussion, especially since the opening of Wynn Las Vegas in 2005 and the questionable choices they made - restaurants far from the casino and the world's biggest...

Posted by JohnH on 4 Nov 2010
I like Aria's signage. Its blend of natural wood and other materials is creative, intriguing, and one of the rare aspects of the resort that works within the context of whatever it was Jimbo...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 3 Nov 2010
Of all the ARIA related problems we've been discussing for last year or so, the one I disagreed with the most was the belief that the casino was too dark. I've always thought that...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 15 Oct 2010Do you love the red chandeliers in Encore's casino as much as we do? Then you're really going to enjoy this little video explanation of them by Wynn Resorts interior design mastermind Roger Thomas.
If...

Posted by MikeE on 14 Oct 2010Terrence Watanabe took residency at Wynn Las Vegas for a year. Yes, an entire year. He actually went on vacation from his vacation. His 'house guests' were Wynn's guests. He called Fairway Villa 101 home...

Posted by Blackjacker1979 on 1 Sep 2010The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, you know, the better Gateway to CityCenter has finally donned it's evening attire in full for the world to see.
Two weekends ago while concluding my trip at Bellagio I saw...

Posted by Chuckmonster on 23 Jun 2010If there is one thing that makes me puke faster than reading 5000 word blow by blow trip reports that cover every last boring ass detail of a strangers boring ass trip, it is the...

Posted by MikeE on 9 Jun 2010VT reader Antman73 gave us the heads up on Monte Carlo's much-needed website redo over on the board. Now, I'm no web design expert, but I've got enough experience to know that a resort's home...